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Ukraine's capital city of Kiev has been engulfed in protests over President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to more closely align his government with Russia rather than with the European Union.

The protests have erupted in violence, and the death toll is rising as fires continue to burn in Kiev's Independence Square.

Obama spoke about the crisis after landing in Toluca, Mexico, for a summit with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Here is what Obama told reporters:

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the violence that's taking place. And we have been deeply engaged with our European partners as well as the Ukrainian government and the opposition to try to ensure that that violence ends.

"But we hold the Ukrainian government primarily responsible for making sure that it is dealing with peaceful protesters in an appropriate way, that the Ukrainian people are able to assemble and speak freely about their interests without fear of repression.

"And I want to be very clear as we work through these next several days in Ukraine that we're going to be watching closely and we expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with peaceful protesters.

"We've also said we expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful and we'll be monitoring very closely the situation, recognizing that with our European partners and the international community there will be consequences if people step over the line. And that includes making sure the Ukrainian military does not step into what should be a set of issues that can be resolved by civilians.

"So the United States will continue to engage with all sides in the dispute in Ukraine and ultimately our interest is to make sure the Ukrainian people can express their own desires and we believe a large majority of Ukrainians are interested in an integration with Europe and the commerce and cultural exchanges that are possible for them to expand opportunity and prosperity. But regardless of how the Ukrainian people determine their own future, it is important the people themseves make those decisions and that's what the United States will continue to strive to achieve."